Jewish tradition fosters argument for the sake of arriving at truth. The Talmud tells us the sages Hillel and Shammai often disagreed with one another, but their respective points of view have endured because of the purity of their motives.

If we approach and accept art on its terms, it will offer us much more than familiarity and comfort; if we think we already know the moral to the story, we stand to miss what is there. There may be no story.

What does it mean when an intelligent film like Lincoln, in its sixth week of major release last weekend, came in number three at the domestic box office, beating both Skyfall and the the last installment of the Twilight Saga this busy holiday season?

In coming months and years, teachers' jobs will be made harder by Steven Spielberg's film Lincoln, in which Daniel Day-Lewis gives a brilliant performance as, well, Lincoln-the-abolitionist. The only problem is that Lincoln was not an abolitionist.

Lincoln is an important story well told. Daniel Day-Lewis' impersonation of Lincoln is spot on, right down to the great man's high-pitched voice, lumbering gait and profound melancholy. To watch that film is to walk into the White House in January 1865.

In Obama's second term, there will be some things that can and should be fixed, while others will have to await their time. Obama will have to choose wisely, because his chances will be narrow and his political capital is limited -- unless we afford him more.

Steven Spielberg's Lincoln takes on the last four months of the 16th president's life -- and it is nothing like you'd expect. This is a political procedural where an ensemble cast carries equal importance to Abraham Lincoln himself.